Middleby to sell 51% stake in Residential Kitchen business

The Middleby Corporation has announced entry into a definitive agreement to sell a 51% stake in its Residential Kitchen business to affiliates of 26North Partners LP in a transaction valuing Residential Kitchen at $885 million. Following this transaction, Middleby will own a 49% non-controlling interest in a new standalone joint venture holding the Residential Kitchen business, while receiving upfront cash proceeds of approximately $540million and holding a $135million seller note provided to the joint venture.

The Residential Kitchen business brings together a collection of market-leading, premium residential equipment brands, including Viking, AGA Rangemaster, La Cornue, Kamado Joe, Marvel, Novy and U-Line. This transaction, along with the previously announced spin-off of the Food Processing business that is expected to be completed in H1 2026, marks a significant milestone in Middleby’s transformation into a pure-play commercial foodservice leader. 

As a standalone company, the commercial foodservice platform has an attractive, best-in-class financial profile with 2024 annual revenue of $2.38billion, $654million in Adjusted EBITDA and an Adjusted EBITDA Margin above 27%.

“Today’s announcement is a definitive step in the evolution of Middleby” said Tim FitzGerald, president and CEO of Middleby. “Over the past 12 months, the Middleby team has acceleratedour portfolio transformation, including announcing the spin-off of Middleby Food Processing, while investing in organic growth opportunities and returning capital to shareholders.”

“This transaction enables Middleby to partially monetize the Residential Kitchen business at an attractive valuation and provides significant upfront cash proceeds to invest in shareholder return and growth initiatives, while enabling Middleby to participate in Residential Kitchen’s upside potential,” he continued. “We are excited to partner with 26North given its successful history of value creation in collaboration with corporate partners. We look forward to working closely with 26North to create a stronger Residential Kitchen business and to ensure continuity for employees and customers.”

Middleby will retain a noncontrolling common equity stake in the standalone Residential Kitchen business. Residential Kitchen’s financial results will be reported as discontinued operations as of Q4 2025 and reported as income from minority interest upon closing.

As part of the transaction, Residential Kitchen will be structured as a joint venture between Middleby and 26North. The transaction will be funded by fully committed third-party debt financing, a $135million seller note provided by Middleby to the joint venture, a preferred equity contribution by 26North and rollover equity by Middleby.